Mass Media in China

China’s electronic mass media are regulated by the State Administration
of Radio,
Film, and Television, a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Information Industry.
The Chinese
Communist Party’s Propaganda Department traditionally has played a large
role as arbiter of
standards for appropriate broadcasts. The People’s Broadcasting Station
transmits radio
broadcasts in standard Chinese (Putonghua) and the various dialects and minority
languages
throughout China.

In 2004, 282 domestic radio stations and 774 short- and medium-wave radio
relaying and transmitting stations operated, and many stations provided Internet
access to some
of their broadcasts. China National Radio, headquartered in Beijing, transmits
programs in
standard Chinese, Kazakh, Korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Uygur. China Radio
International,
also headquartered in Beijing but with domestic service branches in major cities,
broadcasts in
43 foreign languages and several Chinese dialects.

Television service is provided by China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing
along with extensive local daily programming and Internet
access by viewers to scheduling, reviews, and programming. By 2001 CCTV had
33 local
affiliates, along provincial lines, with areas such as Fujian and Shanghai having
two stations.

China Education Television (CETV) also is used for distance learning. Cable
television was
reaching 114.7 million households, or about 95 percent of the population, by
the end of 2004.
The government has been active in regulating newspapers in the twenty-first
century. Although
foreign investment in local news media was permissible by 2002, the government
closed down
673 unprofitable state-run newspapers in 2003 and in 2004 banned subscription
newspapers and
periodicals.

The major national newspaper, Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily),
was established in
1948 as the main organ of the Chinese Communist Party, has a print circulation
of nearly 2.2
million, and offers overseas editions and Internet access in foreign languages.
Other major
newspapers published in Beijing are Gongren Ribao (Workers’ Daily),
Nongmin Ribao
(Farmers’ Daily), Zhongguo Qingnian Bao (China Youth News), Guangming
Ribao (Bright Daily), Jiefangjun Bao (Liberation Army Daily),
and Zhongguo Ribao (China Daily). There are
two major newspapers published outside of Beijing: Jiefang Ribao (Liberation
Daily), published
in Shanghai, and Nanfang Ribao (Southern Daily), published in Guangzhou. These
newspapers
have circulations of between 300,000 and 2.5 million and also include Internet
editions. China
had more than 2,000 other newspapers in publication in 2006.

China published 208, 294 books, with a total print run of 6.4 million volumes,
in 2004 and
printed 2,119 newspapers with a total average circulation of 190.7 million in
2003. Even more
widely distributed were China’s 9,074 magazines, which in 2003 rose to
an average circulation
of 199 million copies and probably more since both newspapers and magazines
typically are
traded among multiple readers, and newspapers often are posted on community
bulletin boards
for passers-by.

The Ministry of Information Industry regulates access to the Internet while
the Ministry of Public
Security and the Ministry of State Security monitor its use. A broad range of
topics that
authorities interpret as potentially subversive or as slanderous to the state,
including the
dissemination of anti-unification information or “state secrets”
that may endanger national
security, are prohibited by various laws and regulations. Promoting “evil
cults” (a term used for
Falun Gong) is banned, as is providing information that “disturbs social
order or undermines
social stability.”

Internet service providers (ISPs) are restricted to domestic media news postings
and are required to record information useful for tracking users and their viewing
habits, install
software capable of copying e-mails, and immediately abort transmission of material
considered
subversive. As a result, many ISPs practice self-censorship to avoid violations
of the broadly
worded regulations.